


It's peaceful in the deep

by emily_hufflepuff



Category: The Last Kingdom (TV), The Warrior Chronicles | The Saxon Stories - Bernard Cornwell
Genre: Caring about each other, Coccham Squad - Freeform, Injury, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:14:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29291196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emily_hufflepuff/pseuds/emily_hufflepuff
Summary: Sihtric falls ill on a mission. Uhtred, Osferth and Finan aren't sure he's going to make it.
Kudos: 11





	It's peaceful in the deep

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a prompt I saw on pinterest which I think was reposted from Tumblr (I have no idea where it was from but thanks to whoever made it).
> 
> This is just something quick I did whilst bored - doubt its very good but writing these are fun!
> 
> Title is from 'Never Let Me Go' by Florence + the Machine.

Sihtric lay on his bedroll looking up at the stars above him. His whole body ached, as if something had sunk deep into his bones, and despite being next to the fire, he was cold at his core. He didn’t know what was wrong with him. Struggling to sit up, he took in a sharp intake of breath as he felt a sharp pain in his side. His vision swam in front of him, the world spinning and blurred.

‘They’re on the move – lets go.’

Sihtric splashed some water on his face to try and shake some of his grogginess. He managed to get to his feet, collecting his weapons and began making his way to where Uhtred, Finan and Osferth had gathered at the edge of the clearing. The world continued to spin in front of him, the ground seeming to move under his feet. Every step took a large amount of effort and concentration.

He was ill – he knew this. Uhtred would surely make him stay behind if he noticed but they were on an important mission and he would not let his lord down. He focused on controlling his breathing, ignoring the stabbing pain in his side and his aching muscles.

Uhtred watched as Sihtric joined them; he seemed a little quieter than usual but he was quiet in nature so it didn’t concern him too much.

They began tracking the small group of Danes they had been following for the past couple of days. They crept silently through the woods, staying close together, their footsteps and breathing muffled, their hands ready on their weapons, their senses on high alert. They had done this so many times before. It was like second nature. The four of them working as one.

However, they were not being silent. Ragged breathing and heavy footsteps echoed off the trees. A twig snapped behind him. Uhtred turned around to see Sihtric steadying himself on a tree, breathing heavily.

‘You okay?’

‘Yes – yes, lord. Sorry, I’m fine.’

‘We need to keep going if we are going to catch them.’

They continued on, however so did Sihtric’s heavy breathing and stilted movements.

‘Sihtric, if you don’t pull ya’self together ya going to get us all killed!’ hissed Finan over his shoulder in Sihtric’s direction.

They finally reached the Danes. Everything was going to plan. Uhtred was just about to give the order to attack, taking advantage of surprise like they had planned, but stopped. Something was wrong but he couldn’t tell what. He listened carefully but he could hear nothing – it was perfectly quiet.

Too quiet.

Sihtric’s laboured breathing had stopped.

Uhtred turned to his men, however only two were crouched behind him.

‘Where’s Sihtric?’

\---

Sihtric lay on his back, drifting in and out of consciousness. He had no recollection of how he had fallen – one minute he was following Osferth, the next he was staring at the stars. Somehow the pain he had previously felt had gone, being replaced by a calming numbness. He had no concept of time or place, where he was or where his friends had gone.

He gripped his sword, bringing it his chest, as he felt his eyes become heavier. Darkness began to wash over him. He wondered if that was it. If he would soon be waking up in Valhalla. It wasn’t so bad, he thought, it was peaceful.

He thought he heard someone call his name, but he began to fall into the dark depths of nothingness.

\---

‘Sihtric! Sihtric wake up!’ Osferth whispered as loud as he dared, shaking his friend gently by the shoulders.

It had taken them only a couple of minutes to find Sihtric unconscious on the forest floor. His skin had gone deathly white, his breathing barely visible. Uhtred noticed that he was clutching his sword to his chest – it seemed the young Dane was prepared for death.

‘Dear God,’ muttered Finan as he crouched beside them.

‘We need to move him – he needs a healer.’

‘I know that!’ snapped Uhtred. His heart was beginning to pound in panic, one of his closest friends was seemingly minutes from death, they were in the middle of no where and surrounded by Danes – these were not good odds even for him.

They managed to lift Sihtric between them, slowly dragging him back towards their camp. However, they didn’t get far before they heard a shout behind them. They had been spotted.

‘Go!’ Uhtred ordered Osferth and Finan as he ran towards the oncoming Danes head on, sword in hand.

Osferth and Finan, dragging Sihtric between them, began to run. The sounds of battle behind them as their lord took on God knew how many Danes single handed.

They finally stopped to take a breath, Sihtric falling limply between them.

‘Sihtric!’ Osferth called, grabbing his friend in panic, ‘Finan, he’s not breathing. Sihtric come back to us, please – Sihtric please!’

\---

Slowly Sihtric began to float back from the depths of the darkness that had engulfed him. He still couldn’t open his eyes, but he began to be aware of the world around him. Slowly the muffled sounds that surrounded him became recognisable voices.

‘If he’s getting better why won’t he wake up?’

‘The healer said it would take time, Finan.’

‘It’s been a week, Osferth! What if he doesn’t wake up?’ his friend’s voice seemed to crack at the last part.

A deafening silence followed. Sihtric wanted to tell his friends that he could hear them, to not worry, that he was okay – but he was powerless, unable to even move his body.

‘I can’t lose him too. I – I just can’t.’

‘We don’t know he’s dead, he might-‘

‘He is and it’s my fault! I should never have left him. He was my brother and I left him!’

‘I know but-‘

‘No! No, you don’t get it!’

‘Don’t I? You don’t think he means a lot to me too? Because he does – they both do! They are the only family I’ve ever had so don’t you dare act like you’re the only one who cares about what happens to them.’ Osferth shouted back. Sihtric was shocked at the anger in his voice, he wasn’t sure he had heard it in the monk’s voice before.

Silence fell back across the room. Sihtric tried to reach them, to reassure them, but he just seemed to fall further back into the depths of unconsciousness.

\---

Finan was in a state. He hadn’t slept for weeks, not since that night. They had managed to get back to their camp with Sihtric still just about alive. They had taken the horses and had ridden through the night to the closest village and had thankfully found a healer. No matter what the healer seemed to do though, Sihtric didn’t wake up.

Uhtred had not returned either. They had gone back to the woods to see if they could find him but there was no sign of their lord. There had been bodies littered everywhere but, mercifully, none of them had been his. However, the longer Finan and Osferth waited, the more their hope of seeing their friend again alive disappeared. Osferth had tried to remain optimistic, but Finan had fallen into a pit of despair, grief and guilt.

Finan sat next to Sihtric’s bed like he did every night. Somehow he couldn’t bare to leave him for long. He took his hand in his, making sure it gripped his sword. He didn’t believe in Sihtric’s gods or traditions, but it was important to him, so it was important to Finan.

As Finan removed his hand, he swore he felt Sihtric’s finger twitch. He placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder, giving him a light shake causing him to groan slightly. Finan jumped up and called for Osferth – a groan wasn’t much but it was the first sign of life Sihtric had exhibited for weeks.

\---

When Sihtric finally woke up later that day, the relief and joy that swept through Finan and Osferth was immeasurable. They had truly become brothers over their years with Uhtred. To be so close to losing one of them had been too much to bear.

Uhtred had walked through the door a couple of days later, covered in blood, cuts across his face and a rather worrying limp, but alive. They had simply stared at him in shock for what seemed like an eternity. Although they hadn’t dared to say it out loud, they had all accepted that their lord was never coming back.

They drank a lot of ale that night – as you can probably imagine.

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't really know how to end this. BUT the main thing is they live happily ever after :)


End file.
